SBCC football moving home games to Friday night

There are a few changes on the SBCC football schedule for 2012 and the biggest one is the home games, which are moving to Friday nights at 7 p.m.

“In the current budget climate, everyone is being asked to change the way we do things and find a way to reduce costs,” said athletic director Ryan Byrne. “Overall, as a college, we have to re-invent ourselves. By moving the home football games to Friday, we’re going to have significant savings while still serving our students.”

The Vaqueros will open at home on Friday, Aug. 31 vs. Hancock at 7 p.m. The other four Friday dates at La Playa Stadium are Sept. 14 (Compton), Oct. 12 (Antelope Valley), Oct. 19 (L.A. Pierce) and Nov. 9 in the season finale against West L.A.

“It’s a cost-cutting move and I’m not going to worry about it,” said Vaquero head coach Craig Moropoulos. “It doesn’t matter if we play on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. It’s a football game and we’ll be ready.”

The nonconference schedule has changed with East L.A. and Compton replacing Ventura and Moorpark. With the addition of Antelope Valley, the American Pacific Conference has eight teams and there are no more byes in conference play.

SBCC had a bye in the last week for the past two seasons, which was the equivalent of having no bye. This year, the bye comes right in the middle of the schedule on Oct. 6-7.

“That’s tremendous and it comes at a perfect time,” said Moropoulos. “It will let the guys heal up a bit and gives you a chance to take a breath.”

All of Santa Barbara’s road games will be on Saturdays, starting Sept. 8 at East L.A. The other road games are Sept. 22 at L.A. Valley (APC opener), Sept. 29 at L.A. Southwest, Oct. 27 at Santa Monica and Nov. 3 at Glendale.

All the road games start at 6 p.m. with the exception of Santa Monica, which kicks off at 1 p.m.

Byrne said he hopes to get more SBCC students at the home games.

“We’d like to get the students more involved with our football program,” he stated. “They’re already on campus for classes on Fridays, so hopefully they can stay for the games. We want to make it a more exciting and fun experience.”